Rise of the Vortex Pirates
by Nolanrmm
Summary: Follow Sloth D. Rift, an original character, and his crew on their journey to realize their dreams. The journey starts in North Blue but may take them to the shores of Raftel. Takes place 6 months after "The War of the best". Will they succeed or will they fail? OCs welcomed and encouraged. -OC Captain- -OC crew-
1. Romancing the Dawn

**One Piece: Rise of the Vortex Pirates**

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Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with One Piece the manga, anime or any other affiliated merchandise. It's a creation by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shonen Jump. I'm not making any money out of the creation, display or distribution of this work.

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**Chapter 1: Romancing the Dawn**

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A Pirate of Some Repute

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"How did I ever sire such a pitiful excuse for a marine? What on earth do you mean I shouldn't kill this man? He is a pirate! His is a life of black deeds and cold hearts, he would never spare the life of an opponent! He is nothing but scum and I am the chemical with which that scum is eradicated. I am a rear admiral of the marines! I am Rear Admiral Sloth D. Typhoon and I am reckoning."

The man said it with such fury and zeal, it was clear that these words meant a great deal to him. One might even say he had just expressed his very essence here on this blood stained beach in sight of just two men. Well a man and a boy. The young boy looked at his father - tears still in his eyes after the heartfelt plea he had made. A plea, it seemed, that had fallen on the deaf ears of a zealotic mad man. Typhoon was dressed in the standard garb of a marine admiral. A green suit, black tie, and long dark brown hair were the only factors that marked him as an individual. Only high ranking members of the marines were allowed even this much individualism.

"Hah, hahahahah," the pirate laughed. This kind of laugh was rare, reserved for those whose life was at an end but whose will may live on. "Boy, I have seen a spirit like yours. They are rare but I tell you this: yours is not the life of a marine! You will be a pirate! And not just any pirate but the k-" The pirate had stopped. As the boys head rose eyes brightening at the revelation he saw what had stopped the man so abruptly. A katana of considerable quality was now wedged in his neck, blood coming in spurts. The pirate was dead, the ghost of his last smile still fresh on his lips.

Typhoon walked slowly past the man and grabbed the treasure chest he had fought so hard to defend. As the boy watched, he opened the small chest and revealed a treasure greater than any gold coin or gem. Inside that chest was the power to become a monster, inside was the power to change the world.

* * *

Sloth D. Typhoon

* * *

The ships rocking was rhythmic to Typhoon now. As the ship and its crew conquered the particularly vigorous seas he sat scratching a letter. The crashing waves that struck the ship did little to alter his fine and ordered penmanship. After all, he had spent most of his adult life aboard ships much like this. As he wrote he allowed his mind to drift towards the room across the hall were his son slept. Sloth D. Rift was a disappointment through and through. Typhoon guessed that he was probably the most combat gifted boy since Gol D. Roger but his attitude was just abominable. His son would not grow into the fool that Roger had become because he would not allow it! Dreams? What did Typhoon care about petty dreams? What really mattered in this world was _ambition, _specifically the ambition to end this cursed "Great Age of Piracy." That was something to which he hoped his son would aspire to.

As his scratches grew more incessant and he concluded his correspondence, Typhoon rose from his chair and exited the officer's quarters. He walked with conviction, a steely resolution in his eyes.

* * *

Mary White

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Mary White ran with an unconscious young boy draped in her arms. The boy had arrived on the island of Iotim purely by chance and some divine stroke of luck. In fact, Mary was sure, he had definitely used up each and every ounce of luck he was allotted in his life. His little dingy was only slightly waterlogged which meant he had been at sea for a couple days. He was however severely dehydrated. The boy seemed to have broken Granddad's cardinal rule of seafaring, namely, "Don't drink the damn seawater!" 'It really is much more effective when you raise your walking stick above your head as you say it' Mary mused. As she ran from the beach she pondered where to take the boy. The marines of Iotim were known to help with this sort of thing and even give free medical care to people who had been injured at sea. But, they absolutely could not aid pirates no matter the injury. Mary knew it pained Captain Raspberry to refuse care to any patient, but on this the navy wouldn't budge.

On that note, and because Mary would soon collapse from exhaustion, she stopped to check if the boy had any obvious pirate affiliations. She laid him on his right side as she caught her breath. As she looked him over he looked very average, his shoes were black and nice but not extraordinary. He wore purple jeans which Mary thought was a little odd, he also wore a sleeveless black top. His hair was short, dark brown, and untamable. The only thing that came off as even remotely alarming was the surprising amount of muscle definition on his young frame. Mary did everything in her power not to blush. 'He is only a few years younger than me!' said the defensive part of her brain. Anyway, she thought, he's totally normal. Then she turned him on his back.

Her reaction would have been quite comical to any casual observer. She sort of scurried backwards with her arms leading the way for the legs, it wasn't the trees fault that she ran into it. With a headache brewing at the point of contact she decided to look at him again. He had a very fist looking bruise around his right eye. An eye which she had expected to be closed. Instead, a white pupil amid a sea of black starred back at her, unblinking and unseeing. In fact since there didn't appear to be an eyelid she doubted it was even capable of blinking or seeing. The strangeness of the eye gave her pause, but she decided to take him to the marines for care regardless.

Mary helped look after him with the Captains permission. It took 3 days and a considerable amount of fluid pumped into his veins before he finally woke up.

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The Letter

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_Dearest Laura,_

_It is with the heaviest heart I write this letter. As you know I am a man who values actions and deeds far over any words. I know no words of mine can convey the magnitude of this tragedy. There is nothing to console the anguish that must be ours. In times of peace sons bury their fathers and in times of war fathers must bury their sons. I will not say which is easier, but I will say that of the two I would choose the former every time. This is, however, a time of war. I know this must be confusing so I will say it plainly. Our son, our Rift, is gone. He fell from our ship sometime in the night and there was no warning or chance to recover him. It is impossible that he could have survived so do not hold too tightly to hope. I am sorry. This is my failure to bear. _

_Sincerely,_

_Sloth D. Typhoon_

_Navy Rear Admiral_

_Captain of the Shackled Spirit_

_Servant of the World Government_

_P.S. Cane has been promoted to Lieutenant. We should both be very proud._

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Author's note: Some of you may recognize this story (if only the title). I wrote about 15 chapters of this fic before abandoning it as a lost cause. I am returning to it now because the characters are still vivid in my mind and it sounds fun. I will be rewriting it while following along the same general story as before. Anyway, I hope you have all enjoyed the chapter and I would appreciate a review as it helps me to gauge interest and improve! Additionally, if any one would like to submit an OC I am always open to them! Thank you for reading!


	2. I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds

**One Piece: Rise Of The Vortex Pirates**

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Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with One Piece the manga, anime or any other affiliated merchandise. It's a creation by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shonen Jump. I'm not making any money out of the creation, display or distribution of this work.

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**Chapter 2: I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds**

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Sloth D. Rift

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Rift opened his eyes. Or rather, opened one eye and finally took notice of the blinding light in the other.

"TURN OFF THE LIGHTS!" He screamed. "WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT?" Rift could feel the light singeing his right eye. He fought to close the lid but muscles that had been unconsciously used for his whole life no longer existed. There was no way to close it. By the time he finally did the obvious thing and covered his right eye with his hand an assistant had turned off the lights. By that time the pain had already driven the boy back to the point of exhaustion. With a small flutter of his left eye he drifted back into his dreamless sleep. All he heard before drifting off was a cry of surprise from the doctor who stood over him and a small squeak escape from a young girl's throat.

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Mary White

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Mary sat and watched the boy's chest rise and fall as he lay in his blissful sleep. He had only been asleep for a day this time, hopefully it wouldn't last as long as before. She hadn't been here all day, 'you can't seem too eager' she thought. But she had been here as much as she could while escaping notice. She reached out her hand for what felt like the millionth time probing the black fabric around the boy's eyes. It was clear to everyone in the room when he awoke that the boy had a hyper sensitive eye. Mary was the only one to suspect that it might be the black eye that caused the hyper sensitivity to light. In fact the others hadn't even wanted to cover it at all. One had even opted for a more risky venture.

'We should probably just remove it' said the mocking voice in Mary's head that she thought resembled that tactless assistant. Now that she thought of it, she really didn't care for that guy. No, not one bit. Of course she had just met him yesterday, but she could tell he wasn't nice. Anyone who would talk like that with a little girl present must not be. 'Well to be fair I'm very mature for my age' she thought. With that she sat up a little straighter and resolved to act the way her mother had when her brother was in the hospital. She was dignified and yet quietly she feared what would happen. This was fun! Role playing, acting like she was part of some bigger story. She giggled before stopping herself, she finally overheard the conversation in the other room.

"The boy is perfectly healthy! The Navy won't let us keep him any longer. Medically there is nothing wrong with him and there is nothing more we can do." The first muffled voice said.

The voice that answered was pleading. "The boy's eye is mangled! What do you call that? He's exhausted and still weak from his dehydration! What will we do with him?"

"Okay, we will look after him until he awakens. After that I'm not sure I can rationalize keeping him."

"I understand. Thank you Commodore." Mary finally recognized this as Captain Raspberry's defeated voice. "I wonder how that eye of his feels."

* * *

Sloth D. Rift

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His eye didn't hurt which he thought was odd. If I can't blink and I can't use it when it is light out what use is it? Eventually he actually took notice of what he was looking at. He noticed that he could see, not with his left eye but with his right. The fibers on the black cloth were clear as day. He could count them. As he lay there marveling at this revelation he smiled. Surprisingly the girl who sat nearby, and breathed a little too heavily Rift thought, was paying very close attention. When he smiled she immediately jumped up to inform the doctors.

"Wait," Rift asked. "How did I get here?" As he said it he sat up making sure to keep the cloth around his eyes.

"I, um, I saved you." Mary answered. Rift could see her through the cloth. With her heavy breathing he had imagined an overweight girl, instead she was quite normal; outside of her pink hair that is.

"Oh. Well what's your name?"

"Hey! You don't just ask me my name! I saved your life you have to thank me first! Well I guess you're not from here so you're not polite. My name is Mary."

"Oh I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me. What was wrong with me?"

"You were severely dehydrated. I found you and carried you back here. Well, I carried you most of the way until I ran into Captain Raspberry."

"Whoa Captain? Is he a pirate? Cool!"

"No, he's a marine doofus!"

"A Marine?! But Pirates are much better! Marines are ass holes!"

"How would you know? Captain Raspberry is the nicest guy I ever met?"

"Oh. Really? I guess I was wrong." With that Mary fell over.

"Well don't just take my word for it! How do you know I'm not lying?"

"Oh, well, I hadn't thought of that."

"I'll go get him he'll be happy to see that you're awake." Mary said as she got up and rushed to the next room. 'Welp' thought Rift 'it's now or never.' He rose into a crouch and prepared to jump. Before he could he was struck by an odd whim.

"My name is Sloth D. Rift! And I'm gonna be the Pirate King!" he screamed. With that done he jumped out of the window.

* * *

Some time later – Sloth D. Rift

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Rift ran for some time. This forest was cool! There were animals and plants and, and, and animals! The best part was that he'd been out here for like a day, or like a week, or come to think of it; he really didn't know how long he'd been out here. He seemed to be thinking slowly. Slower than usual that is. Wait what was the good thing about this place? Oh yeah that was it. Wow, look a thingy! I mean a doohickey. It's not even a thingy or a doohickey it's like a thingy doohickey majiger. Oh wait! That's it! Yes it had to be. It was a vegetable! Yes that is what they had called these things. Everyone said they tasted horrible. But he knew quite a few people who couldn't wait to eat one.

Rift's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since leaving the hospital. In fact he didn't know when he had last eaten. Once he concentrated on his hunger he realized why his thoughts were so scattered. He looked at the "vegetable" again. It was now quite clear what it was. His dad had explicitly said to never eat one. So, obviously, he scarfed that thing down. As he chewed he could feel his stomach getting fuller. The fruit was so filling it invigorated him. He could feel the weakness, brought on by his journey at sea as well as his long trek through the forest, dissipating.

"Oh man I feel great!" Rift yelled into the dense brush. The. Dense. Brush. Where did the dense brush go? He was about 200 feet off the ground with no explanation of how he got there. He didn't jump but somehow he ended up here. Rift was falling.

"So I can't fly. But what brought me up here?" He mused falling through the air with his chin in his hand. He had taken the pose because it seemed like 'the thing to do' when you were falling. As he neared the ground he readied himself for the landing. He was pretty sure he could land from this high up. He needn't have worried. As soon as his first toe, or front part of his shoe, touched the ground he was sent back up. "HEY, I felt it that time!" he exclaimed with his arms raised. It was like a muscle that he had never felt located right above his stomach. So he flexed it. Nope. Nope. Not it. Not it at all. Rift had flexed the THROW UP NOW muscle. Rift had thought this would be easier to control. It took a few more trips up and down but eventually he succeeded in controlling the 'warp' that was teleporting him. It wasn't a muscle so much as a feeling. He just had to want to be somewhere else. He had to _really _want it.

Sadly he wasn't nearly as effective at doing it consciously. Where the unconscious warps had taken him hundreds of feet the conscious efforts had maxed out at about ten. He tried again and again but his attempts bore little fruit. (I do apologize for the pun) Rift decided he would really need to train this mysterious new power. 'It will take at least a week' he thought.

It took quite a bit longer than that.

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Authors note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I expect the next chapter will see Rift setting sail! Additionally I will be including a character sheet for Rift below, you can expect this every time a major character is revealed/mostly fleshed out. This gives both me and you something to refer back to if necessary. Note: The title is a quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer who said it as he looked upon the first nuclear bomb.

**Name: **Sloth D. Rift

**Age: **16 (he is 10 in this chapter)

**Gender: **Male

**Organization/Position: **Vortex Pirates – Captain

**Current Bounty: **0 beli

**Appearance: **Rift is a lanky 16 year old with some muscle definition. He wears a sleeveless black shirt, black shoes, and purple jeans. He also wears a black jacket which he will remove in the event of a fight. His hair is dark brown and untamable. The most striking feature of Rift is his right eye. It is basically an inverse of a normal eye with a white pupil and black surrounding it. There is no iris. He wears a strap of black cloth across his right eye at a diagonal across his face.

**Personality: **Rift is carefree to the point of danger. He usually doesn't worry too much about anything and expects everything to be easy. He is not a fool although at times he does appear to be (even to himself). He simply doesn't like overtaxing his brain. During moments of stress he proves his considerable intelligence.

**History: **Sloth D. Rift is the son of a marine. His dad is a zealotic madman in the same vein as Akainu. A follower of absolute justice he will stop at nothing to end "the Great Age of Pirates." Due to some unknown catastrophe Rift washed up on shore at Iotim, an island in North Blue, nearly dead. Since then he has met a few friends and acquired a devil fruit.

**Abilities and Skills: **His most notable skill is his devil fruit: the wamuhoru no mi. So far it allows him to teleport very limited distances. Other than his devil fruit he is notable for being a fighting genius on par with a young Gol D. Roger. This praise came from his father Sloth D. Typhoon.

**Weapons: **N/A Rift is a brawler.

**Other Info: **His dream is to be king of the pirates.


	3. Set Sail

**One Piece: Rise of the Vortex Pirates**

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Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with One Piece the manga, anime or any other affiliated merchandise. It's a creation by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shonen Jump. I'm not making any money out of the creation, display or distribution of this work.

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**Chapter 3: Set sail**

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Sloth D. Rift

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Rift lay paralyzed on the beach. In hindsight, or perhaps pre-hindsight, it was good that he found this out sooner rather than later. It seemed any contact with salt water (just salt water) would immediately shut his warp powers down. Additionally it resulted in total paralysis. He knew that fresh water was exempt from these effects because he had bathed a few times in the time spent in the forest.

There was a beautiful pond in the forest with sparkling rays of light filtering through the upper canopy. It was just dark enough that he could safely remove the black cloth he now routinely wore diagonally across his face to cover his black eye. Initially the eye had seemed to be a curse but he now saw it as a boon. Not only was it a much more effective source of vision at night it could also see things from much further away.

At times, when he was finished with his training, he would sneak close to town and check on the kindly girl who had looked after him upon his arrival. Mary was now a fully-fledged nurse who worked in the marine base. From what Rift could tell, she genuinely enjoyed it. As the tide returned, renewing the paralysis, and covering Rift in a dusting of sand he reminisced about her catching him watching.

"Hey!" she had screamed. "Why don't you just go away you pervert!" He raised his hands in an "I surrender" way and stepped out of the brush. His hair was tangled and knotted from the months he had spent in the forest and his clothes were in disarray.

'I probably do look like some old pervert,' he thought. "Sorry Mary. I'm surprised you don't recognize me!" As he said it he swept the hair that hung in front of his face aside. It now occurred to him how fast it must have grown. "You saved my life a few months ago!" He finished with a smile.

"Wait, you're that kid. That kid who jumped out the window! Rift! What do you mean a few months? It's been almost six years!"

"Oh. I must have lost track of time." Mary gave an incredulous look in response to this.

"Uh, well, you're dressed in rags. I guess you can come with me and we can clean you up." She said. She wore that "doting mother" look that Rift thought looked peculiar on her. She motioned him to follow and turned on her heel. Rift jogged to catch up to her and together they walked into town. The first place they went took care of the most glaring problem, Rift's hair. The stylists washed and cut his hair while Mary told him about what was happening on the island and in the world.

"The Navy has been moving troops a lot lately. They are focusing less on us here in North blue. Oh! You haven't heard about the war!"

"War? Who had a war? Also it's good to know I've been in North Blue all this time."

"Wait you didn't kn… Well that's beside the point. Yes, there was a war. About a year ago Whitebeard got upset so he basically destroyed Marineford. It was retaliation for Gol D. Roger's kid getting executed. Well, he didn't actually get executed, I guess he did but not how you'd expect. He escaped and then an admiral killed him I guess. Akainu I think, because he is fleet admiral now."

"Sakazuki is FLEET ADMIRAL?! Oh no!" Rift yelled remembering how his dad had talked about Sakazuki. He was the most twisted marine Rift had ever heard of.

"No, no. Akainu is the new fleet admiral silly. I've never heard of this Sakazuki person."

"Sakazuki is his actual name. Akainu is the name the marine's gave him I guess."

"Oh. Well anyway Whitebeard and Ace were killed and a new guy named Blackbeard came and a lot of people think Straw Hat is dead too. Well, that was about 6 months ago. Anyway it means there has been some upheaval in the Navy. They moved headquarters and they are focusing more heavily on the grand line. That means there will be a whole lot less marine resistance here in North Blue. Should be good for you, 'Mr. King.'"

"Awh, but I wanted to fight a bunch of strong marines." This earned him a flick in the ear from the stylist as well as a disproving look.

"You really are a strange guy."

Eventually, after a considerable amount of work by the stylist, Rift's hair was back to its short and untidy norm. His clothes were still in tatters, so Mary took him shopping. He bought a black coat, new purple jeans ("Yes! I can't believe they had these.), and a new shirt and shoes.

"Do you want to get an eye patch?" Mary asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Nah I don't think I'd like that. I prefer this cloth." Rift answered missing the playful nature of the suggestion completely.

After they shopped Mary insisted on cooking him a home cooked meal. She insisted it was "the right thing to do" and Rift couldn't help but say yes. He hadn't eaten a well cooked meal in quite some time. After they had eaten, Mary had cooked steak and potatoes, Rift decided that it was time to set sail. "Do you know where I can get a boat?" he asked

"A boat? No, the only boat here is a marine battleship. I guess there are civilian craft, little skips that can take you from one island to the next, but not an actual ship. Are you going to leave?"

"Well I can't become King of the Pirates here! I need to get to the Grand Line!"

And that was how he'd ended up here, paralyzed on a beach. The skip he had decided to steal was anchored about thirty feet off shore, he had tried to swim to it. That weakness might be a pain when he spent his life at sea, but he would make it work. What he had to do now was figure out how to get up and get off this beach. It hadn't been too long lying here. He had just left Mary's when he saw the skip anchored off shore. He probably should have just teleported to it.

Eventually a shadow obscured the light that was shining in his eye. He tilted it back and saw a uniformed marine. On his coat were the gold shoulders of a commodore. His hair was a bright brilliant red. He wore round glasses and had a burn mark on his left cheek. "I remember you boy, that eye you keep covered is hard to forget." The marine said. "As is you yelling about being Pirate King." With this he smiled and pulled Rift out of the tides numbing embrace.

"Why are you helping me?" Rift asked bewildered. Although Mary had talked about a kindly marine, Rift had never actually met one.

"I'm Commodore Raspberry, I was the captain who helped you when you washed up here. I didn't expect that you'd still be on Iotim. What have you been doing since then?"

"Training mostly, I ate a weird fruit and I've been working on the power it gave me. Wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Don't worry young pirate I have no desire to detain you. It sounds like you ate a devil fruit. That is why you can't move when the water touches you and lose your abilities. Many don't believe the powers are worth the cost." Rift finally sprung to his feet as Raspberry finished.

"Hmm, so everyone who ate a fruit can't swim? HAH! My dad can't swim!" Raspberry gave a startled expression.

"Who is your dad?"

"Sloth D. Typhoon." Rift answered a little too nonchalantly. At this Raspberry gasped obviously shocked.

"What?!" he screamed. "So you're the one." He said cryptically and with a nod as if to convince himself. The shock had dissipated from his expression. "I happen to have something for you, I saw you down here on the beach and I prepared it." Raspberry smiled and withdrew a very fine piece of black fabric from his pocket. The fabric was so luxurious that it almost glistened. "This is for your eye. I am a doctor of some renown, and I have never seen anything of its kind before. I made this piece of silk especially to hold chemicals that may, one day after you wear it for long enough, allow you to use that eye in the sun. For now, keep it wrapped snugly in this." The young commodore finished by holding out the fabric. Rift accepted it with an expression of reverence.

"Thank you! I... I-" Rift stuttered struggling to find the words.

"It is quite alright young man, it was my honor," The kindly officer said with a smile. It grew wider as Rift pulled him into a surprise hug. "I can't believe you're the one," He said appraising the son of _that man. _

"I'm the one? Yes, I am the one. The chosen one! I'm gonna be Pirate King!" Rift had teleported to the skip mid-sentence and by the time he was done speaking he was already preparing to set sail. Raspberry was slow to realize where he'd gone. As he watched Rift sail away he wondered if he had suffered a brain injury from the stupidity of Rifts last statement.

"I'd better get checked out." He muttered rubbing the back of his head. He watched the young pirate sail into the unknown. Just before Rift crested the horizon Raspberry heard him yell.

"Set sail!" Said the boy charging into the unknown.

* * *

Authors note: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Rift has finally set sail on his journey. Leave me a review to let me know what you thought of it as well as the story. As always thank you for reading.


	4. Primarily Mated pt 1

**One Piece: Rise of the Vortex Pirates**

* * *

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with One Piece the manga, anime or any other affiliated merchandise. It's a creation by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shonen Jump. I'm not making any money out of the creation, display or distribution of this work.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Primarily Mated** **pt. 1**

* * *

Beelz

* * *

Why did Kuma have to send him to this damn sea? In any of the other seas outside of the grand line he would be a major player if not _the_ major player. I mean, that weakling Arlong had lasted quite a long time as top dog of east blue. What a joke! Jinbe was the only reason the sun pirates where even respectable. Anyway, North Blue was crawling with Grand Line caliber talent. Why was that?

"Captain Beelz! Somewhere out on that Horizon. Out beyond those neon lights! I know there must be something better. But there's nowhere else in sight." A crew member yelled in a very singsong way.

What? "What?" Beelz said turning to see who had spoken. Of course it had to be Walshy. He was always talking in that way.

"Oh I was just saying that I wish our life hadn't taken such a turn. We were doing so well too."

"I know Walshy. That damn Tyrant." Kuma had decided to send their whole ship back to North Blue. For what reason only the Gorosei know. Or maybe the revolutionaries if rumor was to be believed. The luck of Beelz's Devils Horn pirates had never been great. In fact they had a reputation for being unlucky. Kuma had proved that when he pushed them out of the Grand Line within sight of Sabaody about 6 months ago.

Since then the Devil's Horn pirates had been raising hell in North Blue. By Beelz estimation there were about 6 crews here that were of Grand Line quality. When Eustass "Captain" Kidd had left for the Grand Line he had left a power vacuum in his wake. The 7 strongest crews in the North Blue were now vying for that power.

It was night now, late and the moon was still nearly new in the night sky. Beelz walked below deck which was hard when you were this tall. He had always been a little proud of his considerable height at over 7 feet but it did make moving around a boat harder. As he arrived in his private quarters he saw his most recent bounty poster. It read 25 million beli which, Beelz had to admit, he was proud of. The rest of his crew, mostly due to the bounties of Walshy and Ogra, had bounties totaling 15 million beli. His bounty poster had a sketch rather than a picture and he didn't feel they had done the devil motif justice. He wore Black leather pants and no shirt. His horns and shaggy red hair were the features that were most accentuated on the poster. He also wore a red shirt with a pentagram on it which was absent on the poster. Walshy's was a picture that showed him with his long blond hair, open jean jacket, sandals, tie-dyed pants, and his weapon. It was a guitar that doubled as an axe bringing a new meaning to the phrase "axe-man".

Beelz heard some kind of commotion on deck. He heard the distinct thick sound of unconscious bodys hitting the wood. "What is going on!" he screamed as he opened the door to the underbelly of the ship. As he turned he saw a lanky young boy dressed in black and purple. The mere sight of the young rapscallion made Beelz' blood boil almost as much as the sight of his unconscious crew members. The boy looked up at the towering pirate dressed in a demonic way. He scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed way.

"Hello, can you tell me where the nearest island is? I asked these guys and they just attacked me." The boy said. It was at that moment that Walshy burst through the door and took in the scene a look of shock plastered on his face.

"You just knocked out most of my crew you brat! Why would I help you?"

"Oh, I guess I'm being rude." The two Devil's horn pirates collapsed at this. "My name is Sloth D. Rift can you tell me where a nearby island is?"

Both of the seasoned pirates looked at each other and sweat dropped.

* * *

Sloth D. Rift

* * *

"That was weird," thought Rift. After he had told them his name they seemed a lot friendlier. Regardless he was now on his way to the closest island. After sailing for a few hours he could finally see it on the horizon. At first he had thought it must have been a production Island because long before he could see it, he had seen the smoke. It was rising in a thick column instead of multiple columns that would identify it as industrial smoke. As he neared the island he saw the flames burning a small section of the forest on the densely wooded Island.

The island was a small one. It consisted of dense woods surrounding a central mountain. The forest sprawled up the mountain stopping at some point. The trees line stopped in a line in a way only seen on the tallest of mountains. Rift thought he could make out a small cottage just beyond the tree line. As he got nearer to the island he could see that, strangely, the fire wasn't spreading.

Eventually his skip hit the sand of the beach and he made landfall on the strange forest island. "**AHHHH."** As he pulled his boat onto the beach to prevent it from drifting away he heard a blood curdling scream from the direction of the fire. Rift didn't think about what he was doing he just ran straight for the fire and the scream. As he got close to where he had heard the scream he saw the body of a man lying a dozen yards into the burning forest.

"Hey, are you okay! Hey!" Rift yelled hysterical. He didn't have any time to waste. He teleported into the fire and grabbed the man. As he readied himself for the teleport back he noticed that the man was naked and unburnt. He wasted a few precious seconds in shock before he finally teleported out. As he arrived on the outskirts of the fire he could still feel the fire singing his flesh. The process of teleporting had the unfortunate side effect of sucking in the fumes and hot gases produced by the fire. Rift dare not take a breath because of his proximity to the scalding fumes. As soon as he was free of the fumes Rift began rolling on the ground to stop the scalding flames from burning him too badly.

Once he was free of the fire he tried to raise himself to his feet. It was only then that he realized the intense pain throughout his body. His breaths came in broken rasps and he fell to his knees. "Ah damn," he said before collapsing in a heap.

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Some Time Later

* * *

Rift awoke in a strange small room. The roof was strangely absent although it was clear the shack had had a roof at one point. The walls were thin wood as if this cabin had been built by hand and only meant to stand for a short while. He rose from where he lay in bed and tested his legs on the dirt floor. The upstart pirate decided it was time to find out who this ramshackle place belonged to.

As he exited the small room in which he had slept for some unknown amount of time he saw that the rest of the shack was much the same. If you had to classify the shack in one word that word would be: tight. Everything had a place and for only this reason did it all fit. There was a wood-fire furnace, a table, and counters. Rift figured his host wouldn't mind if he helped himself to some food. He found some rice and made a bowl with some meat for himself. As he ate he awaited the imminent arrival of his host.

As Rift finished his bowl of rice, feeling less weak already, a strange man entered the hut. He was a bit taller than Rift at about six foot three inches. His hair was a dark shade of purple with flecks of green and styled in a pompadour. His jaw was strong and he had a multitude of scratch scars. He was dressed in a black coat that reached down to below his knees that was open in the chest. Around his waist was a purple sash and on his right hip lay a double edged sword.

"Oi, who said you could eat my food?" The swordsman said.

Rift scrambled to answer his mouth still full "Ib juss thoubt dat ou sabed ma so Ib cwould hewpe myfelf."

"Uh, what?" countered the now bemused man.

"I just thought that you saved me so I could help myself." Rift said after swallowing.

"Oh, yeah about that I'm not sure what happened. One second I was training my swordsmanship and the next I'm waking up next to you right next to a fire. You were burnt pretty badly but it has mostly healed."

"Wow it healed in a night? That makes sense I guess." At this the swordsmen sweatdropped.

"Um kid you were out for two nights and most of this morning." He said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, well okay. Hey purple hair, what's you name anyway." Rift asked.

"Oh yes, my name is Zeltzer Aron, and yours?"

"My name is Sloth D. Rift!" Rift said throwing his hands up in the air.

"Why are your hands raised?" Aron asked.

"Huh? Oh I don't know. Oh! You have a sword!" Rift said finally noticing the sword despite Aron's previous statement about training. "Can I see it?"

"Um, no sorry," Aron said "that sword has been in my family for longer than my dad could trace back. He was a great swordsman! It is my only treasure from him."

"Well where is he? I wanna meet him!" Rift said getting excited.

"He's dead," Aron answered looking dejected. "He was killed by the same beast that starts those fires."

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Authors note: Okay that is that chapter finished! This one took quite a bit longer than I was anticipating. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter! As always, thank you for reading and I would appreciate any reviews whether positive or negative.


	5. Primarily Mated pt 2

**One Piece: Rise of the Vortex Pirates**

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Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with One Piece the manga, anime or any other affiliated merchandise. It's a creation by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shonen Jump. I'm not making any money out of the creation, display or distribution of this work.

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**Chapter 5: Primarily Mated pt. 2**

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Sloth D. Rift

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"He… He's dead?" Rift said taken aback, "that's too bad. I'm sorry."

"Do not worry about it, he has been dead for a long time. I am over it. So walk me through it: you land here and decide to take a run through a fire?" Aron asked.

"Um no not exactly," Rift said scratching the back of his head, "I heard someone scream. When I ran up to the fire I saw you lying naked in the middle of it. When I grabbed you and got out of there I realized you weren't burnt. How come you weren't burnt? Are you a fire man or something?"

Aron blinked several times in response clearly surprised by the news. "I was not burnt? That is strange!" he said. "Well maybe the fires just were not close enough."

"That could be." Rift said dumbly and with a nod of assurance for Aron and himself. Deep down he knew that the fire should have burned Aron. "So you said something is starting the fires. What?"

"I do not know, I have been trying to figure that out for as long as I can remember. I try to trace the fires and I search for the beast every day. It is almost like it knows! Like it knows I am looking for it and it hides just a step beyond my view!" As Aron finished he punched the wall in frustration. "I have never even seen it, but I have found some of its tracks and it is HUGE. The toes are as long as my arm, it must be a huge reptile or something."

Rift eyes grew wider "Like a dragon?" He said excited "I want to fight it!"

"Me too," Aron chuckled, "though you may stand a better chance against it. You're some kind of monster huh kid?"

Rift blinked several times and sweat dropped "I guess so, how do you know that?"

"Well you owe me a new roof! That is how I know!" countered the swordsman.

Rift stared up into the mid afternoon sky barely aware that there had once been a roof there. "Wait; I did that?" He asked, clearly disbelieving.

"Yep, in your sleep. I do not know how or why but you screamed, the wind howled, and I lost a perfectly good roof." Aron said. "Kahahaha, do not worry," he laughed seeing Rift's self-conscious expression. "You can work on fixing it after you have finished your food."

"Okah," Rift said mouth full of food. When he finished the two went into the forest and Aron instructed him on how to build a roof from the materials in the forest. By the time he had finished it was late enough to remove the wrapping around his black eye. He could see much farther with the black eye than he could even make out in daytime, and he saw a light emanating from a cave a long way off.

"Hey Aron," he called as he jumped down off the house and onto the sand of the beach, still hot from the day's heat. "Why is there a light coming out of that cave?"

"Oh that," the swordsmen said as he cooked some freshly caught fish over a beach fire. "A strange man lives in there, he never speaks normally. He always makes you try to figure out his meaning. Like a puzzle with words," he said scratching his chin.

"You mean riddles?" Rift asked.

"What is a riddle?" Aron countered, looking bemused.

Rift scratched his head, "Well a riddle is…. It's, uh…. It's what you just said, Wahahaha" he laughed smiling at both Aron's lack of understanding and his inability to describe the meaning of "riddle".

"Oh," the swordsmen said still looking confused. "I am sorry, I grew up here with just me and my dad. I have never heard that word."

"Well that's alright," Rift countered eagerly accepting his freshly cooked fish. He bit down on the food and chewed with a wide smile. "So is it just you and the riddle guy here?" Rift asked.

"No, there is an old hermit who provides much of the food you ate. There is also an old pirate Captain, but he keeps to himself."

"A pirate Captain?! I want to fight him!" Rift screamed.

"Why are you yelling?" Aron asked covering his ears.

"Oh, I don't know. Can I fight him?"

"Why? He has done nothing to you."

"Awh. I guess that's true, but I want to get stronger." Rift said disappointed. "So what do you do all day, all alone?" He asked after the bones of his meal were picked clean of meat.

"I hunt." Aron replied cryptically.

"Hunt? Hunt what?"

"The beast."

"Can I help?" Rift asked twisting his pinky finger in his ear.

"YOU DO NOT ASK TO HELP WITH SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS SO CASUALLY!" Aron yelled, eyes wide.

"Oh?" Rift said bemused. "Well if you have never caught the beast you must be a poor hunter. I can help with that."

"Fine," Aron said. 'Asshole calling me a bad hunter.' "We will start first thing tomorrow, for now let us get some rest."

"Okay." Rift said returning to his room in the newly roofed cabin. It didn't take long before he drifted off into sleep.

Suddenly the world erupted into heat. A scorching, crackling, blue fire was enveloping the blackness. All Rift could feel was the heat envelope him, and destroy him. As he was torn apart by the writhing flames he screamed but the sound found no purchase in his throat. As his flesh dissolved it became clear that this was not meant to kill. Somehow, the flames were reforming the destroyed flesh and nerves so that the pain could continue indefinitely. As he lay writhing in agony his body was constantly being created and destroyed; both processes were intensely painful.

Eventually the flames relented. They stopped reforming the outer layer of skin and set about destroying the muscles. As before whenever a muscle or tendon was obliterated by the intense heat the flames would reform the flesh. The pain was less intense than before, but the feeling of intense flames licking his bones would never fade from his memory.

Sweet relief. With the flames stopped and his flesh reforming Rift now saw that he was surrounded by seemingly infinite blackness. Not even his talented right eye could discover a single hint of light in the vast darkness. Pain. Shooting pain found his upper thigh. With it came a small beam of blinding light as if whatever had hit him had ripped a small hole in a blanket obscuring the sun. He bent down and pulled on the shaft. As he tried to pull it free he realized it was an arrow and the head broke off and remained lodged in his leg.

Suddenly countless shafts of light perforated the darkness, and with them came a rain of arrows. Rift attempted to dodge at first, though his devil fruit wasn't working, but it was no use. The rain of arrows came so heavily now that the dark room was now wholly light. Rift must have looked like a human porcupine with the innumerable arrow shafts that now extended out of his body. The pain was unbearable and the would-be Pirate King collapsed.

When he forced his eyes to reopen he found his skin unblemished. The arrow shafts had disappeared and left him alone in the same pitch-black room. Blindness has a way of improving the other senses; for this reason Rift could hear the telltale clickity clack of high heels approaching from very far away. The footsteps drew nearer and nearer until finally they stopped in front of him. The arrival was met with a sweet smell and a feeling of sapped strength. Rift attempted to attack the person who stood before him but found himself trapped in a substance that drained him similar to the sea.

"Oi, what do you wa…" Rift peered down at where he had just been stabbed. It felt similar to a knife. Suddenly his assailant was stabbing him repeatedly. Unable to retaliate due to his restraints all he could do was let himself be eviscerated.

Rift's eyes shot open, he was still lying in bed. He was still safe. His hands explored his body but found no sign of the numerous injuries he had sustained. A dream then, but it had seemed so vivid. As he sat in his rented cot he heard it. The roar. It was so loud and so ferocious that the small cabin rumbled, and the walls cracked. The beast was close.

"I'm coming for you monster!" Rift shouted running out of the house, neglecting to wake Aron.

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Author's note: Hey guys hope you liked the chapter. You may notice a certain quirk of Aron's is that he never uses contractions. This is intentional and is a result of his isolated upbringing. As always, thank you for reading. Any reviews whether positive or negative are appreciated as it helps me gauge interest and improve.

Next chapter will involve the beast and some island exploration.


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